"PowerFlarm and transponders are not going to fix the major cause of accidents among glider pilots."

I'm going to be purchasing and installing a PowerFLARM core this winter so I'm by no means "anti-FLARM" but I do agree with that statement. I lost two friends a little while back due to a glider-glider midair (both of them had PowerFLARM on early order but were still waiting for it to be produced when they collided) but I've lost several more in the dozen years I've been flying in other types of crashes.

Back to PowerFLARM itself, one thing I can't understand is why is the core unit so big? I made a mock up of the portable and the core to check out installation options. They're almost the same size even though the core doesn't need to house a display, control knob and batteries. It looks like I'll be able to fit it on top of the chassis holding my Dittel FSG-50 comm but it'll be tight.

By the time I finish paying for the core unit, 57mm display (nothing else will fit my panel without serious layout modifications and instrument changes), installing it according to the relevant Schleicher TN, and revising the W&B and equipment list I figure it's going to cost me a fair chunk more cash than the commonly bandied about "$1500" too.

What I would really like to see, and presumably it will come in time, would be the option to purchase a vario-nav system with built in integrated PowerFLARM similar to what's available now with the "classic" European FLARM system.